Work supporting and guiding device for shoe sewing machines



| P. SIMMONS ET AL Sept. 16, 1952 WORK SUPPORTING AND GUIDING DEVICE FOR SHOE SEWING MACHINES Filed Oct. 2, 1948 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Sept. 16, 1952 P. SIMMONS ET AL 2,610,597

WORK SUPPORTING AND GUIDING DEVICE FOR SHOE SEWING MACHINES Filed Oct. 2, 1948 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 :1 I I I 700 .9'7 jw wdmw Sept. 16, 1952 1.. P. SIMMONS ET AL 2,610,597

WORK SUPPORTING AND GUIDING DEVICE FOR SHOE SEWING MACHINES Filed Oct. 2, 1948 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 and Mam-WW Sept. 16, 1952 P. SIMMONS ET AL WORK SUPPORTING AND GUIDING DEVICE FOR SHOE SEWING MACHINES 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed 001;. 2, 1948 Patented Sept. 16, 1952 WORK SUPPORTING AND GUIDING DEVICE FOR SHOE SEWING MACHINES Lillian I. Simmons. and Frank J. Ccnnova,

' Chicago, Ill. 7

Application OctoberZ, 1948, Serial No. 52,544

1 This inventionrelates to improved shoe sewing mechanisms by which the individual parts of shoes are secured together priorto lasting. More particularly, the inventionis directed to an improved work supporting and welt-guiding plate utilized in connection with a shoe sewing machine, which facilitates'the operation of inserting a line of stitching simultaneously through an unattached welt strip, insole and pre-formed upper members to secure said members together.

Pre-welted shoes made by securing a welt to the margin of the upper member prior to lasting are known in the art. Further, it, has heretofore been suggested that a pre-welted shoe having desirable characteristics could be formed by attach ing an insoleto a unitarymember formed of the welt andupper prior, to lasting the shoe.

Illustrative of such pre-welted shoes is the disclosure of British Patent No. 405,625, dated February 2, 1934, which describes a method of making pre-welted shoes, wherein the welt and upper members are initially secured together "to form a unitary member. The individual parts of the unitary member are first temporarily fas-' tened by the use of tacks preparatory to inserting preliminary tacking stitches. After the welt and upper are formed into the unitary member with the aid of tacks, the insole is sewn to the weltupper unit by a line of securing stitche'sl Thus, by the inethod set forth in the British'patent, fitting and tacking operations are necessitated in forming the unitary welt-upper member and'anadditional securing operation is required to attach the insole to the previously'formed unitary member. In'view of thenumber of steps'involved, including thelpreliminary securing steps, the cost :of manufacture ofshoes made in accordance with the disclosure of the aforesaid patent is inherently-high, .and accordingly, the process has not'y'achieved commercial success.. & ,It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide-a; novel worksupporting plate for use in; making .pre-welted shoes by uniting separate and unattached welt, upper and insole pieces during a single sewing operation prior to the lasting of the shoe parts. 1

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved work supporting and wel r uiding plate whereby separate and unattached welt, up-

per and insole members may be united by a line of stitching formed during a single sewing operation while the shoe parts are maintained inan invertedposition with the marginal edges thereof in alignment.

l Anotherobject of the invention is to provide 6 Claims. j (01. 112-432) an improved device for forming pre-welted shoes by (1) superposing the corresponding portions of an unattached preformed upper member and an unattached preformed insole having the edges thereof in alignment with the edge of a welt strip section, and (2) inserting a line of securin stitches a spaced distance from the edges thereof around the preformed members and through the shoe components while maintaining the marginal edges thereof in alignment.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved sewing mechanism which will facilitate the maintenance of marginal edges of superposed unattached shoe parts suchlas the welt,

upper member and insole, in alignment during the insertion of a line ofstitching about the periphery of the shoe unit a spaced distance from the edge thereof.' p I It is a further object of the invention to provide animproved work supporting plate for a shoe sewing machine, which is provided with a non-confining guide groove for the welt strip, to-.

gether withsupporting means for the inner sole and upper member when positioned with the edges thereof in superposed relation beneath the presser foot of the sewing device.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved work supporting plate for a sewing machine, which is'provided with a slot, through movement of the welt strip and the shoe parts united thereto after leaving the sewing area.

A still further obj ect' of the invention is to provide a unitary worksupporting and welt-guiding plate for use with, a sewing machine, which plate comprisesa member having a relatively fiat upper surface and an elongated needle aperture positioned between spaced and opposed abutments that form awelt groove with the height of each of the abutments progressively increasing from a position adjacent the central portion of the elongated needle aperture in a direction toward the infeeding end of the welt groove.

The invention. also resides in certain novel structural characteristics of the improved work supporting and welt-guiding device for sewing mechanism, which facilitate the carryin out of the foregoing objects and which contribute both to the versatility of performanceand to its ease Fig, 2 is a perspective View of an improved work-supporting plate for a shoe sewing machine, wherein is provided a welt slot, through which a welt strip passes, a needle aperture, and also a channel or groove for the welt strip which serves as a non-confining guide means;

Fig. 8 is a cross-section taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig; dis a cross-section taken on line 4-4 of Fig, 2 ,j'except thepresser foot'has been shown in lowered position; i i j Fig.5 is a plan view of the improved work supporting plate;

Fig.6 is a side elevation of the work supporting plate; f b

Fig. '7 is a bottom view of the work supporting plate; "j v Fig. 8 is an elevation of the right side of the improved work supporting plate shown in Fig. Fig. 9 ,is anelevation .of the left side of the work, supporting plate shown in Fig. 5; Fig. 10 is an enlarged section of the work supportingplatetaken on line 33 of Fig. 1;

Fig, 11 is an enlargedp-lan view of the reduced neck portion showing the welt groove and slot of the work supporting plate; 7

Fig. 12is a perspective view of a welt, insole and upper member provided with an open toe and heel, whichjhave been secured by a line of stitch- Fig. 13 is a bottom view of the shoe component shown in Fig.,l2; v

Fig. 14 is a perspective view of a shoe component formed of awelt, insole and upper member providediwith closed heel and toe portions;

FigLjlS is a bottom view of the s'hoecomponent shownin Fig. 14;v

'Fig. 16 is an exploded View disclosing the shoe components in Fig. 12, with a last inserted thereand indicating the assembly of a heel seat,

filler and shank;

Fig. 1'7 is a cross-sectional view of the assembled shoe indicated "in Fig. 16 taken through the heel section; and

Fig. 13 is a cross-sectional view of the assembled shoe indicated in Fig. if) taken across the forward portion ofthe shoe, to which an outer sole hasjbeen secured.

While this invention is susceptible of various modifications and constructions, we have shown in the drawings and will here describe in detail the preferred embodiment. It is to be understood that we do not intend to limit the invention by such disclosure and we aim to cover all modifications and alternative construction and steps fallin within the scope and spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

In'forming shoes by our improved method, a separate and unattached preformed upper member l 8 is positioned above'a welt strip [2 with the edges of the separatepreforrned upper member H] and welt strip 52 in alignment. Preferably. the inside heel breast marginal-portion of the preformed upper is initially superposed relative to a portion of the welt strip adjacent to its extremity. Inasmuch as the ends of the welt strip are overlapped during a subsequent sewing operation, the end of the Welt strip in contact with the separate preformed upper may be skived or feathered, as shown by reference numeral! l, prior to the above positioning operation, although, if desirable, this step may be carried on subsequent to the sewing operation.

The preformed upper member l6 and welt strip 12 are arranged with the finished or outside of the welt in contact with and underlaying the finished or outside of the preformed upper member. By the term preformed upper member we mean to define the shoe upper pieces which are conventionally made up in a, fitting room. Such upper members are cut to a desired configuration, depending upon the style and size of the shoe being made, and maybe provided with a stitched edging I4, counter l6,- lining 58, open toe and open iheel portions, 20 and 22, respectively, heel stay 24, box toe l5, vamp and other features normally'ernp-loyed in shoe structure. The material from which the preformed upper member lll'is formed may be leather, textile, plastic, or other web material conventionally employed, and the surface which forms the exterior of the shoe may be plain or decorated in any suitable manner.

A preformed insole member 26 is laidover the superposed preformed upper member ID and welt strip 12 with the marginal edge of the insole at the inside heel breast positioned in corresponding relation to the inner heel breast position of the upper member I 0. 'Thepreformed insole 26 is positioned on the upper member I9 with the cor:

responding edgesin alignment and with the finished side, i. e., theinside, in contact with the unfinishedside of the upper member. The insole member 26 is preferably formed of soft flexible leather, although other flexible web materials, such as textiles and the like, may be employed. By arranging the separate and unattached shoe pieces I0, I 2 and 26 in the manner described, an assembly is provided, as shown in Fig, 1, wherein the corresponding marginal edges of the insole-26' and upper member LID are in register and superposed relative to a portion of the welt strip I2 adjacent to the end thereof with the edges of the welt strip in alignment with the edges of the insole and upper member. I

The separate and unattached shoe pieces I0, I 2 and 26 after having been assembled in the above defined manner are secured together to form -aunitary shoe component by a line of stitching 21 passing through the welt strip a spaced distance from the outside edge thereof and through the preformed insole 2B and preformed upper member ID. The line of stitching does not necessarily pass through all of the pieces, as the line is inserted about'the marginal edges of the shoe unit, since certain portions of the insole and upper member may be left free of stitch-' ing depending upon the style and type of shoestitches are inserted. The maintenance of the separate and unattached pieces "in superposed relation with the edges thereof in alignment is complicated by the fact that the line of stitching follows a path-of reverse curvature and the degree of curvature changes in accordance with the location of the shoe portions being united. The curvature is greatest at the heel and toe portions of the shoe unit where the greatest difficulty' is encountered in properly maintaining thegsuperposed; and unattached pieces in aligned positionas the;assembly of pieces passes into the sewlnstare ,Inorder to: make possible the rapid insertion of the stitches through the unattached pieces to be secured by; relatively unskilled operators and with a minimum ofrejected shoe units, we have provided an improved sewing mechanism which serves to guide the welt strip into a selected position" beneath the presser foot in the sewing area of the improved mechanism. Thus, by employing our improved sewing means to position the-welt strip continuously relative to the line ofistitches as they are inserted, the operators attention can be directed to maintaining the uppermember, l8 and insole 26 in juxtaposition with the edges thereof .in alignment with each other and withthe edge of the welt strip l2.

, The improved sewing mechanism which is shown in Figs. 1 to 11, inclusive, comprises a unitary work supportin plate 50 which serves both as a supportingmeans for the shoe pieces while the stitches are being inserted therethrough and as a means for guiding the welt strip l2 to, but not confining said strip in, a predetermined position withinthe sewing area. .The

work supporting plate is shown in Figs. 1, 3 and 4 attached to a conventional sewing device which is adapted for sewing. a welt strip to an unlasted upper member. By way of example, the mechanism of a Puritan shoe machine has been employed to illustrate the type. of sewing device which may be utilized, although other types of sewing devices may be used. The stitch-forming mechanism of the sewing machine comprises an awl 52 which is reciprocated by shaft 54 in which it is mounted,-a needle threading looper 56, and a reciprocatin hooked straight-shank needle 58, which; together with the, needle castoff (not shown),- are actuated in proper timed relation by connections to conventional sewing machine elements which form no part of the present invention. Reference numeral indicates a presserfoot, which, when moved into its lowered position, as best shown in Fig. 4, is biased byspringmeans (not shown) to compress the shoe pieces between the bottom of the foot and the work supporting plate 50 in the sewing area or zone. The platen 82 ofpresser foot 60 is formed relatively narrow in order to facilitate sewing closely adjacent to the aligned edges ofthe superposed welt strip -|2, upper member HJ'and insole 26. By sewing relatively close to the edges of the superposed shoe parts, labor and material are saved, since the need for trimming is eliminated. I

The type of-presser foot conventionally employed to sew shoe Vamps has been found suitable for this purpose, and the platen surface, i. e., the presser foot bottom, of such a vamping foot in contact with the material is aproximately 0.625

material; the center of the line of stitches throughithe shoe-pieces will be inserted approximately 0.156 of an inch from the aligned edge of of standard 86. Aibolt 18 having the shank end thereof threaded extends through aperture 18 of wall Hand is securedin thread-equipped aper-. ture '80 of wall 12. Rotation of bolt 16 serves to tightenthe coating surfaces of walls 12' and 14' against the surfaces ofthe dovetailed grooves 68 and 10 to maintain the unitary supporting plate 50 in place. 1 I

The reduced neck portion 64 of the unitary Work supporting plate 58 is provided with a. welt groove 82 extendingtransversely of the'reduced end portion 64 which is formed by a wall or abutment' 84 and an oppositely opposed shortened wall or abutment 86 formed by narrow ridge 88 which is located adjacent to the outer end of the reduced portion 64. The top surface of ridge 88 is flattened and is located in substantially thesame plane as the upper body surface 5| of the work supporting plate 50 A welt slot 90 is positioned adjacent to the leading edge 92 ofwelt. groove 82 and is formed by extensions 94 and 98 of abutments Bland 86, respectively, and by bridge member 98 which extends betweenridge 88 and the body portion of plate 50. The walls or abutmerits 84 and 86 are spaced a distance apart slightly greater than the width of the welt strip to be sewn and the opening between the under surface of bridge member 98 and leading edge 92 is considerably greater than the thickness of the welt strip |2 in order that the strip may freely passthrough the slot 98 and slide in the groove 82 without binding. 5

Asis shown in Figs. '2,v 3, 5, 10 and 11, the leading edgef92 of-the bottom of. welt. groove 82 is rounded at I88 and the groove progressively decreases in depth to the central portion I05 of needle aperture H16, at which point the height of the abutment 84 remains constant over the rearward portion thereof. Converselyfleach' of the abutments 84 and 86 progressively increase in height from the central portion of the needle aperture to the in-feed end of the welt groove. The rearward portion of the welt groove 82 is relatively shallow for purposes to be explained later and by way of illustration good results have been obtained under commercial operating conditions by employing a groove depth from the central portion of the needle aperture rearwardly of approximately one eighth the thickness of the welt strip.

As best shown in Figs. 1,8 and 10, the leading part I04 of the reducedneck portions. extends downwardly below the plane of the remaining part of the reduced portion. to form with the overhanging section 99 of bridge member 98 an opening 91 for welt slot 99 of considerably greater depth than that of the welt strip;- The upper and lower surfaces of the bridge member 98 are substantially parallel and are positioned in acute angular relationship with the upper surface 5| of the work support plate 50, as is shown in Figs. 3 and 10. Thematerial passing above the slot 90 is readily directed into the sewing area ofthe 7 sewing device by the slanted upper surface of bridge member Q8 and the lower surface of the bridge member 98 cooperating with rounded leading edge 92 serves as a guiding means for directing the incoming welt strip into the welt groove 82.

The bottom of welt groove 82 is provided with an elongated needle aperture I96, the longitudinal axis of which is spaced from abutment 84 by a' distance corresponding to the space between the aligned edges of the material and the line of stitches.- As best shownin Figs. and 10, the needl'e'aperture I06 is preferably located closer to the abutment 84 than it'is to abutment 86. The elongated needle aperture IDS is provided with aninfeed'end I01 and an outfeed end indicated by reference numeral I08. Ridge 88 extends from bridge member 98 along welt groove 82 to a position opposite a location substantially intermediate the central portion I05 and outfeed end I08 of needle aperture I95 where it preferably'abruptly tapers to the level of the after portion of the Welt groove bottom. The after portion' H32 of the Welt groove 82 is gradually rounded to present a surface from which the sewn material'may freely pass without being impeded by friction.

Prior to superposing and aligning the edges of the separate welt strip I2, upper member II) and insole 26 as described above, the end of the welt strip feeding from a welt supply (not shown) positioned below the sewing mechanism is passed through welt slot 90 over leading edge 92 of the groove 82 with the finished side facing in an upward direction. After aligning the edges of the superposed shoe pieces at the inner heel breast position,- as above described, the presser foot 69 is released to compress the pieces beneath the platen 62, as shown in Fig. .4, within the sewing area. 7

The manner of uniting the shoe pieces by stitching is dependent upon the type and style of shoe'being constructed. Figs. 12, 13 and 16 illustrate the continuous line of stitching inserted through the parts of an open toe and heel shoe. In the preforming of the upper member ID for such a shoe, it is conventional to remove material from theinside tip position 28 across the ,toe to the outside tip position 36 and from the inside heel breast position 32 around the heel to the outside heel breast position 34. Thus,

in sewing the shoe pieces of an open toe and heel shoe, the operator inserts a line of stitching extending forwardly from the inner heel breast position 32, through the marginal edges of the superposed welt'strip I2, upper member I0 and insole 26 to the inside tip position 28. The line of stitching then is continued around the curvature of the toe through only the welt strip I2 and insole 26 to the outside tip position 30. From this pointthe line of stitching continues through the welt strip, upper member and insole until the outside heel breast position 34 is reached. The line of stitching then continues from the outside heel breast position 34 around the curva- 8. and insole '26 to form a closed heel and toe shoe, as shown in Figs. 14 and 15, the line of stitches 2'] is started, as previously described, at the inner heel breast position marked by the niche 40 and extends forwardly to the inside tip niche 36 passingthrough the welt strip, upper member and insole. The stitching continues from niche 36 around the curvature of the toe tooutside tip niche 38 passing through only the welt strip and upper. From the outside tip niche 38, the stitching 2'! continues to the outside heel breast niche 42 passing through the welt strip, upper and insole members. Between theoutside heel breast niche Q2 and the inside heel breast niche ML'the line of stitching rounds the heel portion and passes through only the welt strip I2 and the upper member Ii}.

From this description it will be evident that the insole is left free from the upper member and welt strip around the toe curvature from the inside tip niche 36 to the outside tip niche 38 and around the heelacurvature from the outside heel breast niche 4.2 to the inside heel breast niche 48. Prior to completing the continuous line of stitches at the inside heel breast position, the welt strip is severed and overlaps the opposite end. The severed end thereof is skived to reduce the bulk of the overlapping portions of the welt strip.

During the sewing operation the shoe parts are inverted with the bottom side of the insole uppermost. Consequently,-it will be noted that the operator can see only the edge of the welt strip with which the edges of the other shoe pieces are aligned during the insertion of the stitches. The welt strip feeding through slot 90 from beneath the work support plate 50 into welt groove 82 is positioned by abutments I34 and 85 which form the sides thereof. During insertion of the line of stitches in the sewing area which progressively moves about the contour of the shoe, the marginal edges of the upper member I0 and insole 26 to be sewn are maintained in superposed relation to the welt strip with the edges thereof in alignment. Since the line of stitches passes about reverse curvesv and also around the more abrupt curves 'ofthe heel and toe portions, it is necessary for the sewn portions leaving the sewing 'area beneath the platen'BZ to move laterally either to the right or left, depending upon the specific portion of the shoe contour being sewed. By employing a shortened ridge 88, and providing a welt groove which progressively decreases in depth from the leading edge thereof rearwardly to the central portion I05 of the needle aperture and then remains constant over the rearward portion thereof to the rounded edge I82, as described above, the welt strip after being sewn to the other shoe pieces will freely'ride over the rearward portion of abutment 84 or pass over or around the end 89 of ridge 88, thus facilitating the insertion of the line of stitching around the shoe parts. From the above discussion it will be evident that the welt slot and groove of the unitary work supporting plate 59 serve to guide the welt strip from a supply roll beneath the sewing machine to the proper location within the sewing area, but does not serve to confine the welt strip and the shoe pieces united therewith after they leave the sewing area. In view' of the guiding, supporting but not confining action applied to the welt strip, an operator can readily follow the contour of the superposed-shoe parts and insert a line of stitching aspaced distance from the edges there.

9 of through the marginal edges of the separate and unattached pieces.

After the welt strip, upper member and insole are sewed together, the shoe is lasted by inserting a last 44 into the interior of the sewn piece. The outer edge of the welt strip is pulled up which causes the lip 46, in the sewn edges of the welt strip, upper member and insole, to fold inwardly, as shown in Figs. 1'7 and 18, forming a well or recessed portion 49 across the bottom of the insole. A heel seat 47 is positioned in the heel portion of the recess and a filler 4B is then inserted having a thickness substantially equal to the greatest depth of the recessed portion 49. The filler may be preformed, as indicated in Fig. 16, and comprise a resilient material, such as compacted and cemented cork granules or other resilient and flexible material. Alternatively, the filler may becast in the recessed portion 49 by spreading therein a semi-flowable mixture of paste-like materials conventionally used for the purpose.

After the filler 48 has been inserted, a shank 53 is placed across the instep oi the shoe, as indicated in Fig. 16. The outsole 55 is then applied to the shoe bottom and secured to the unfinished side of the welt [2 by a line of stitching 51 inserted around the shoe welt a spaced distance from the edge thereof. The shoe heel is then applied, the parts trimmed and the shoe finished in any suitable manner known to the art. -1

We claim:

1. A unitary work supporting and welt-guiding plate for use on a shoe sewing machine comprising a member provided with a relatively fiat upper surface having an elongated needle aperture provided with infeed and outieed ends extending through said member, a first abutment positioned on one side of said needle aperture extending in a direction transverse of said plate, asecond abutment positioned in opposed relation to said first abutment located on the opposite side of said needle aperture, said second abutment extending in spaced relation to said first abutment and terminating opposite to a position intermediatethe central portion and the outfeed end of said elongated needle aperture, the heights of each of said opposed abutments being substantially the same and progressively increasing in one direction from the central portion of said elongated needle aperture to the extremities thereof, and the height of said first abutment being substantially constant throughout its length in the opposite direction from said central portion of the elongated needle aperture.

2. A unitary work supporting plate for use on a shoe sewing machine comprising a member provided with a relatively fiat upper surface hav-' ing an elongated needle aperture provided with infeed and outfeed ends extending through said second abutment terminating opposite to a. position intermediate the central portion and the outfeed end of said elongated needle aperture, each of mid opposed abutments progressively increasing in height from a position adjacent the central portion of said elongated needle aperture in a direction toward the leading edge of said welt groove, and the height of said second abutment being substantially constant throughout its length from a point opposite the central portion of said elongated needle aperture in the opposite direction.

3. A unitary work supporting plate as defined in claim 2 having the leading edge of the welt groove formed witha curved surface.

4. A unitary work supporting plate as defined in claim 2 provided with a bridging'membe'r extending intermediate the upper portion of said opposed abutments adjacent to the extremities thereof which defines with said leading edge a welt slot. 7

5. A unitary Work supporting plateas defined in claim 2 having a welt slot located adjacent the in-feeding portion of the welt groove formed by extensions of said first and second abutments, said leading edge and a bridging member connecting the upper portions of said abutments.

6. A unitary work supporting plate as defined in claim 2 wherein the end of the second abutment located opposite said elongated needle aperture is provided with a downwardly extending taper.

LILLIAIN P. SIMMONS. FRANK J. CONNOVA.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name 

